Essay #1
She is sitting at her desk, foot tapping and chair spinning trying to focus on the material in front of her. She tries to concentrate but her brain wanders with thoughts of how she could spend her time better. Her eyes scan the page trying to absorb as much as she can. She looks for bolded sentences in hopes that they might be the hints to what is on the exam. She stands up pushes her desk chair in and moves to her bed. She grabs a soft blanket and a few pillows to make herself comfy as she continues to read. Soon she nears the end of the third chapter only to realize she hasn't comprehended much at all.
I think I could improve my approach to reading assignments by breaking the assignment up into smaller chunks. I think when read I try to read fast because reading is not my favorite thing. I think I would have a lot more success if I read only a few pages or paragraphs at a time and then went back and reviewed them before moving on.
Benjamin realizes that it is important to read as a writer, because it allows you to take inspiration from others and improve your own writing. Benjamin shared his struggle to retain the information when he was speed reading and rushing though books. Benjamins mindset shift towards reading allowed him to find his true passion and enjoy reading. He shares numerous example of times he meticulously read a book picking through every detail big or small. Benjamin encourages fellow readers to slow down their process, in order to get the most out of their reading. When I first thought of a slow reader I wasn't imagining Benjamin's reading process. I think his process may be a bit extreme. I do agree with him that it is important to slow down your reading. I probably wouldn't slow down in books I read for fun, however I do see the value in slowing down when reading for academic purposes. In academic writing it easy to be vague, and I think reading as a writer will be very important for this class, specifically when it comes to picking out details and interpreting the texts in a way that is unique to me rather than just writing what I think the teacher wants to read.
Essay #2
She sits alone at her desk typing on her keyboard. She outlines her main ideas for her intro, body paragraphs, and conclusion. Once that is done she begins to fill in the outline with the information she needs to complete the essay. Once she has written and changed everything about three different times, she checks the grammar. She copies and pastes the essay into Grammarly and makes any final changes. Then she shares it with her friends hoping that they can give her good feedback. After she is done editing and has read through it a final time, she submits it.
To improve my writing process I think I could put a lot more time into my research and forming my ideas before I start writing. I usually jump right into writing the essay right away, and don't take time to make sure my ideas flow well. I also am a huge procrastinator when it comes to essays, because writing is definitely not best skill. So I think starting my essays early and planning my ideas before writing will help me become a stronger writer.
The two ideas from the short essay that I think are the most important are tip number three, and tip number seven. Tip number three tells you to ask yourself what surprises you about the topic as you research. I think this will be really important for me personally because I often fall under the trap of writing for the teacher rather than for myself. I think that following this tip will not only help me enjoy writing more but help me become more passionate about what I write, leading me to write a better essay. Tip number seven says that the best essays answer the "How?". A lot of times I get stuck while writing and find it hard to find things to write about, especially when it's a topic I don't enjoy. I think that following this tip will help me to continue to find different things to write about, and will help me think of different angles or perspectives to add into my writing.
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